Nowadays, many people visit other countries to travel, study, or have a business. Therefore, people feel cultural difference more often than decades ago. Sometimes, cultural differences cause cultural shocks when the particular situation is not familiar in his or her mother country. Cultural difference may occur between countries but cultural shock occurs between different cultural area such as oriental and western culture.
That is the reason why international students and settlers from other cultural area feel uncomfortable.Moreover, this uncomfortable feelings caused by cultural shock is the reason of several health problems of international students. If they are not adapted to another country, they can get these problems. There are several ways to overcome the barrier of the culture.
This essay will acknowledge you about the definition of cultural shock and the ways to prevent and overcome the cultural shock. Sometimes, visiting other country makes people exhausted because of the cultural difference. The definition of cultural shock is the shock that people get when they have been through the strange situation caused by cultural difference.Cultural shock also includes that all differences that people can recon and feel uncomfortable such as food, cleanliness, and people’s attitude (Jacobs n.
d. ). Human stability usually depends on the stability of daily life pattern and cultural differences make it unstable. In addition, the symptoms of culture shock are that people from overseas may have a feeling of sadness and insecure, concern of their health which is not critical at the moment and insomnia (Schimidt n.
d). However, the cultural shock may be the refreshment for traveler but it is one of the difficulties for settlers and international students.Therefore, culture shock may cause psychological and physical health problems as well. Psychological health problem is usually the main reason that causes the physical health problem like chain reaction. According to the Tabak’s opinion, culture shock affects to the mental by 4 stages such as wondering, frustration, and depression and acceptance stage (Tabak 2007).
In wondering stage, people get excited to travel another unknown world. They treat a problem as a cultural difference and enjoy that moment. The short trip or honeymoon is in this stage; therefore, people may get good memories without worries.For settlers, they have to get through the second stage, the frustration stage. If people get used to the curious and wonderful daily lives enough, they think the new culture is terrible than they thought.
Anger and frustration are usual response from settlers in this stage because they do not think every element in this particular country is not as good as their home country (Tabak 2007). And then they proceed to the next stage, the depression stage. Actually, depression stage is the hardest period for everyone because people feel eventually sad and loneliness.Many mental problems (not mental diseases) such as depression and homesickness are occurred in this period.
It drives people feel hopeless. Finally, the final stage is acceptance stage. People start to accept the situation they have. People from other countries understand more about the new culture and start to get easy even though they do not understand more about the new culture and start to get easy even though they do not understand the culture perfectly.
Nevertheless, when they realize the cultural difference is inevitable they enter the re-entry stages (Choo 2003).For international students, culture shock directly influence to their study grade. They might have these emotional problems such as loneliness, homesickness, and depression. Culture shock impacts are critical to the international students. Usually most of international students coming to study long-period are coming without their family or their friends.
Moreover, the age of the international students is getting younger. Young students may fell loneliness and homesickness more than older students. Therefore, they experience culture shock very easily. Culture shock interrupt students’ study pattern and it directly influence to the grades.It is like chain reaction because student who feels emotional difficulties and got low study grade will suffer from both problems. Prevent culture shock from international students and emotional support is crucial for them.
There are many ways to prevent or overcome the culture shock. First of all, international students or settlers have to learn about new culture of country. If they learn about the tradition or historical holidays, they will understand the country and their neighbor will. It is generally difficult to learn everything about other culture but it helps a lot to be adapted to other culture and relax the unstable mind.
Making new local friends also helps to fit in the new cultural statement. Local friends or neighborhoods will acknowledge you to adapt well and they also give a help to solve particular difficult situation (Dicks 2000). To adapt well in other cultural area, people from different culture should remove the stereotype (Oberg n. d.
). Stereotype causes serious aversion when the fabulous situation happens. If international student overreact when those kinds of fabulous situation which is familiar with local people happens, local people will treat you as a strange person.Also, international people should know more about new culture. For international students, they may have a consultant with the school counselor. Have consultation with school counselor can improve the situation which you are in and they probably have a lot of experience of this kind of counseling.
Besides, join the local communities such as church and school club will also help international students a lot. Local communities can improve the feeling of familiarity of new culture and community member. All in all, as the people move around the world, the number of international students is increased a lot as well.They usually find difficulties to adapt themselves into the new cultural area and sometimes they feel uncomfortable in the new society.
The culture shock is the shock related to cultural differences that people from overseas get and it may cause several mental and physical problems. It has 4-5 stages to accept and adapt in new culture and there are several ways to cope with this problems. Acceptance and ability to understanding are needed to international students to adapt well in the new cultural area.
